Thursday, April 1, 2010

Maikke and Lukasz are finally getting married!

Our wedding will be held at the historic Orpheum Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday July 17, 2010 at 5:00 pm. The reception will be held at the Orpheum immediately following the ceremony.

The Orpheum is located in the middle of State Street in downtown Madison, halfway between the State Capitol Building and the University of Wisconsin. Map

Our wedding will be a family friendly event, so we hope that you bring your little ones so that we can see how big they have gotten!

TRAVEL

For those of you who live too far away to drive, you have a few flight options.

1) You can fly directly into Madison (MSN airport code), typically with layovers in Minneapolis or Chicago.

2) You can fly into Chicago and drive or bus up to Madison. Both O'Hare (ORD airport code) and Midway (MDW) are about 150 miles from Madison, and flights to these airports can be drastically cheaper than flying into Madison directly.

A car ride from Chicago to Madison is about 2.5 hours, which is an easy option if you were planning to rent a car anyway.

Or, the Van Galder bus is a cheap and easy way to make it up to Madison from either O'Hare or Midway (it leaves more regularly from O'Hare). Buy tickets here.

ACCOMMODATIONS

We have reserved a block of hotel rooms at the Inn on the Park, which is located across from the WI state capitol and is only a few blocks away from The Orpheum. Map

Rooms at the Inn on the Park will be held until June 16th, so call before then to make your reservation. In order to get the discounted rate, a Friday and Saturday night stay is required.

Call the hotel directly at 800-279-8811 or 608-285-8000 and identify yourself as part of the "Ohlson and Joachimiak Wedding Block". Rates are $139 for a single bed (1-2 people), $159 for two beds (2-4 people), or $179 for a suite, per night. Valet parking is included for registered guests and check-in is at 3:00 pm.

WEATHER

If you've never been to the midwest, Madison weather is a real treat; hot and humid during the day and warm nights. The temperatures typically fluctuate between a high of 85oF to a low of 60oF. Check out the forecast here.

THINGS TO DO AND SEE

Madison is a great city! For those of you who have never visited, here are a few places to go and things to see:

1) Wisconsin State Capitol - Madison is not only home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison but is also the State Capitol. The WI state capitol building is larger than most state's; it is only 3 feet shorter than our nation's capitol. The stone construction and paintings definitely make it worth a walk-through.

2) Farmers' Market on the Square - On Saturday mornings starting at 6:00AM check out the famers market on the capitol square -- it is the largest producer-only farmers' market in the US. Vendors encircle the entire capitol square, selling everything from produce to plants to fresh baked goods and trout.

3) State Street - The center of all things social in madison, the (in)famous State Street runs from the capitol down to the edge of the UW-Madison campus, and is filled with little shops, restaurants and bars.

4) Memorial Union - One of the best spots on campus, nothing beats having a beer on the terrace at the Memorial Union overlooking Lake Mendota! WI beer on tap, brats off the grill, and live music in the evenings.

5) Monona Terrace - Frank Lloyd Wright has left an imprint all over the state, and the Monona Terrace is no exception.